Improvement in step-ladders



M. N. LOVELL.

Improvement in Step Laddrs.

No. 125,683. I PatentedApril16,187.2.

WITNESsg V V AM. Hi0 ra-umasMP/I/t 00. iv. Y {Luann-I51: P1700555 JNITED STATEs FFICE.

MELVIN N. LOVELL, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

.IMPROVEMENT IN STEP-LADDERS.

To all whom it may coneem:

Be it known that I, MELVIN N. LOVELL, of

' Erie, in the county of Erie and State ot'Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Step-Ladders and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in providing a device whereby the construction of step-ladders is facilitated, and whereby strength and durability are secured without adding weight or bulk, said device being a metallic casting used to bind together the upper ends of the slitted side strips of the ladder, and attach the same to the top step, and to which is also hinged the folding stay-brace.

The following description more fully illustrates my device, which is shown in the accompanying drawing, as follows: Figure 1 IS a perspective view of a step-ladder, (the lower part of which is broken away,) wheren 1s shown my device. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the casting detached from the ladder. The following letters illustrate the followm parts.

A is the top step of the ladder. Bis a crossstay piece. 0 C and O U are the side pieces. 1) l) are the folding-prop or stay-braces. F F are the metallic castings. e is one of the steps of the ladder. In general appearance, the construction of this ladder is the same as most Improved step-ladders. The side strips 0 O and U U are formed each of one piece of board,

' which is opened with a saw-cut to near its lower end, and is then spread apart.

The chief feature of my invention is the casting F, and its combination with the other parts of the ladder. They are made rights and lefts, a perspective view of the inside of a left casting being shown in Fig. 2. This casting is possessed of the following parts: the top face a a, with lugs b b b b, for attaching the top strip'of the ladder; the side lugs c c c c, &c., for attaching and giving the proper truss to the side pieces 0 (J; the hinge-plate d, and shoulder f, for hinging and sustaining the folding prop-legs I). These parts all go together to form the solid casting F.

In Fig. 2 this casting is fully shown. The side lugs 0 0 c c and c c c a form two spaces,

into which fit the opened side strips 0 G. The upper lugs of each set are so placed that the space between the spaces in which the strips fit are closer together than at the bottom. This gives to the strips 0 (l the proper truss.

In the construction of some ladders, this truss is accomplished by gluing a wedgeformed strip in between the opened strips at the top; in others, it is imitated by opening the side strip with a saw-cut to near each end, only, leaving the ends unsawed, as I do the lower end, and then holding it opened in a truss form by the screws that attach the steps. Both of these plans are defective, as in the first case'the wedge is liable to unglue when exposed to the weather, and in the second case there is too much strain on the attaching-screws, and no real truss is formed.

By my device a perfect truss is formed, and an enduring'one. I direct especial attention to the parts d f of the castings. The hingeplate 61 slips into a mortise on the end of the folding-prop D, and the prop is pivoted by a pin. The shoulderffits as a cap over the top of the prop, and all the weight sustained by the ladder comes on the whole surface of the top of the prop, and not wholly on the pin. This device is believed to be very useful in its present application.

The manner of constructing a ladder when my casting is used, is as follows: The side strips 0 O are slit, as required, and their upper ends are sprung into the spaces formed by the lugs c c 0.0 and 0 a c c. The steps 6 are then put in. The top strip is then placed onto the faces a a and attached by screws in the lugs bl). The fOIdlHg-PIOPS l) l) are then attached to the hinge-plate d, and the ladder is complete.

The form of the castingF is such that a wide top step can be used in all cases without 

